Boatschooling: Day One, Still All Smiles….
Of the many responses we got about going on this voyage, one of the most common was from parents who claimed that they could never homeschool their children. Surprisingly, of all the things I prepared for in the past year, homeschooling was probably the least of my worries. I am a certified teacher, but I only taught for a short time before having children and staying home to raise them. However, I taught sixth grade, which can be one tough age. To top it off, I taught in a school district that had a good deal of cultural and economic hardships. I figured that teaching three well-behaved children, who were my own, would be a walk in the park. You’d think after being a mom for eleven years, I would know better…
Saying goodbye to Mrs. Walsh and Dr. Eckert
Our school at home, the Ho-Ho-Kus Public School, was incredibly supportive of our trip. A short note about homeschooling: the laws about homeschooling vary greatly from state to state. Being in New Jersey, I had to inform the school district of my intent to homeschool and ensure them that I would provide a comparable education compared to the public school. In other states, the laws are much more strict and can involve testing, sending in lesson plans, and more. Since we are returning to the school next year, we chose to follow our district’s curriculum, as opposed to purchasing one of the programs available online. This way, our children will have similar experiences to those of their classmates and will know what the teachers are referring to next year when they talk about something the rest of the students learned the year before.
Reese paints a postcard to send to her class
The Superintendent , Principal and the invaluable Mrs. Walsh, worked with me and agreed that the experiences of our children could enrich the education of the students at home as well. We brainstormed ideas and planned to Skype with the kids’ homerooms, send postcards from various ports back to the school, take pictures of our children in their school spirit shirts and post them on our website and the school website. Each of the children was assigned a teacher and I met with them extensively back in January. The teachers reviewed the curriculum with me and generously provided us with all the workbooks, textbooks, and other materials we would need. I just packed it all up in bins and threw it onboard in June, figuring I would sort it out once we got under way. (I was a little busy getting our house ready, working on the boat, and, oh yeah, caring for three children!)
Working on spelling
Once we got under way, I thought, “Maybe it’s not such a good idea to have the kids do NOTHING over the summer.” I knew they would give me a hard time if, all of a sudden, I started expecting them to do three hours of school a day after two months of a complete free-for-all. It’s hard enough to get kids back into the swing of things when you have a school, an experienced teacher, and a whole societal institution backing you up. So I decided to start math and reading over the summer. Nothing crazy. Just a few pages in their math workbooks for Units 1 and 2, which are review. I also had them read everyday and log their progress. Chris wanted to give them the summer off, but I promised that this little bit of work would pay off in September. Guess again, Mrs. Conway.
Porter takes a nap on Bryson’s lap after the stress of his Phonics book
September 1st came and went. We were having too much fun with the Armitages in Newport to start school. Then Labor Day weekend came and went and I knew the time had come. I made a big deal about telling the kids that all their friends were starting school that day, too. We went on Facebook at 8:45am and I showed them all the “First Day of School” photos that my mom friends had already posted. They looked at me like I was crazy. Insane. School? On a boat? They acted like they had no idea they would be doing schoolwork this year, even though we’ve been talking about it incessantly and it is a big topic of conversation every time we meet new people along the way. Even though half of Reese’s cabin is filled with school supplies.
DWT: Driving While Teaching. I should have been pulled over for trying to give two spelling tests while driving the boat through the Cap Cod Canal!
So I got out all the books, which had not moved from their bins, and we started up. After about 30 minutes, they were whining, complaining about stomachs hurting, staring at the blue water outside the portholes, and asking me how much longer I planned on torturing them. I stayed positive for about two days, but they are my kids before they are my students, and I can only take so much before I lose my patience. I found myself getting irritated and annoyed with them as their teacher. I thought about the great teachers they’ve had in Ho-Ho-Kus, who handle a whole class with such patience and grace. I berated myself every time I couldn’t get them motivated or interested and found myself saying ridiculous things, like “All your friends are in school for 7 ½ hours today. You should feel LUCKY!”. This works about as well as it worked when my parents told me about the starving kids in China in an effort to get me to eat liver. I thought they were insane to think that would work and I’m sure my kids are feeling the same. Chris was noticing how worked up I was getting and the mere mention of schoolwork was enough to put us all on edge. The situation was all the more difficult because I really did not expect it. Bryson and Reese are smart and work hard and even though Porter is new to school, I thought he would be fine as long as I worked with him one-on-one. I knew I had to do something, but as with much of parenting, by the time I figured it out, time had gone by and they were starting to realize that this school thing was non-negotiable. Phew.
Porter hard at work
Once we hit mid-October, we were over the hump. We were in a routine where we spend 5 days a week on schoolwork. The kids wake up before me (who doesn’t?) and start in on the work they can do independently, such as spelling and handwriting. Then they take a break to have breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, and make beds. Once we are back at the dinette table, I assign Bryson and Reese their work for the day and they get started. I am there if they run into a problem and need some help. Then I sit with Porter and help him with his work. We got into a nice groove and I started to understand who needs more help in which subjects. I tried to organize my time so that I could work one-on-one with each of them for a little bit each day. Of course, Porter needs more of my time, Reese needs less, and Bryson is quite independent at this point. Most days, there is some point when all three are asking me questions at the same time, which gets a little overwhelming (It’s been awhile since I had a two-year-old, which is kind of what it’s like).
Chris taught a weather lesson when we installed our new barometer
After awhile, I realized that we were definitely making good progress. This helped me to relax a little. I know now that we will definitely get to everything we need to do for their grade levels and will have plenty of time left for exploring lots of fun, extra topics and projects. In fact, as of October 25th, Porter has completed half of his math curriculum for the year! Getting ahead will leave more time for moments like these: Porter, sleepy-eyed, and naked except for his pajama bottoms, gets all excited and calls me. “Mom!!! Doesn’t this Triscuit look like Minnesota?!!!”
The Minnesota Triscuit
See my next Boatschooling posts for details on our curriculum and our many field trips for on-location learning! (and more pictures, of course…)